“Plug and Play,” the globally recognized platform for supporting startups based in the United States, has arrived in Albania, with its location at the Pyramid. This initiative offers Albanian entrepreneurs a unique opportunity to scale their startups, attract capital investment, pilot technology, and strengthen their presence in both local and international markets. The platform’s program is designed to provide startups with immediate access to a global experience and a vast international network.

Prime Minister Edi Rama attended the opening ceremony of “Plug and Play,” which finds in Albania the ideal environment to bring innovative services to various industries, with the vision of turning Albania into the regional hub for these ventures.

The “Plug and Play” platform has expanded globally to over 60 locations, across 25 industries, with more than 550 partners. To date, it has invested in over 2,000 companies with the mission of making innovation accessible to anyone, anywhere.

****

Prime Minister Edi Rama: “I don’t think there are many people in this city who could raise their hand and say, ‘Yes, I had envisioned that in 2025, Plug&Play, a global platform that has produced many giants in the digital technology industry, would choose Tirana as its hub.’ A platform that would select Tirana, the capital of Albania, as its center for this part of the world, making it an open gateway for all the girls and boys—not just from our country, but from the entire region—who have dreams and ambitions to become major players in the digital world, where no one faces any form of discriminatory barriers, in any way or shape.

Today, we are here. Just a few hours ago, we were at the opening of the Rochester Institute of Technology in Tirana. A day ago, we were at the opening of the Audiovisual Production Training Center, also with American partners from California, people from the world’s largest audiovisual production industry, alongside representatives from major companies like HBO, Netflix, and others, supporting the center.

Not far from here, ‘School 42’ (‘Ecole 42’) is getting ready to open its doors, another incredible space created in France that also offers opportunities for learning and knowledge to everyone.”

It truly feels amazing to be able to continue counting in a field where we were once the furthest behind. Today, however, we have the leading position in digital governance in the entire region, and we are ranked among the top in Europe. This isn’t just something we say, but something that’s reflected in all the rankings, as we offer 95% of public services online. Thanks to the new system we’ve built, we’ve processed over 45 million services in total, which means over 45 million interactions between people, over 45 million times people stood in line, over 45 million routes to reach the office where the service is provided, and over 45 million missed opportunities for any form of bribery or kickbacks.

In all schools, within two years, we will have Smart Labs.

I want to thank Uranik! I sincerely appreciate your personal contribution to this endeavor, bringing this center to Tirana. I know you fought some internal battles, because you had other temptations to go to other capitals, but we gave you the arguments to bring it here. In the end, you brought it to the city with the fastest-growing airport in Europe. From an airport that was once a chicken coop, back when that other airport in the north was the regional hub, today we have almost a unicorn airport here in the Balkans.

Thank you all very much!